Northern Territory - User Choice

The Northern Territory (NT) Government is committed to building a skilled and competitive workforce to meet industry needs and fill job opportunities created by ongoing economic growth. User Choice funding supports apprentices and trainees by providing financial assistance to Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to deliver training and assessment, enabling students to achieve nationally recognised qualifications. Funding is available to eligible trainees in urban, regional, and remote NT locations at no cost to the student or employer.

Eligibility

To be eligible for User Choice funding a trainee must meet the following criteria:

Be a resident of the NT
Be an Australian citizen, permanent Australian resident or a New Zealand citizen who has resided in Australia for a minimum of six months
Be at least 15 years of age, be identified as disengaged from school and have the skills and capabilities to undertake training and to actively engage in employment, this excludes VET for secondary students
Be a New Worker (an employee who has been employed for less than three months full time or 12 months part time).
Be an Australian visa holder who:

does not have work or study restrictions
has a valid visa for the duration of the apprenticeship, traineeship or training, allowing for the total volume of learning required to achieve the qualification, including supervised and unsupervised training and study
is not the primary provisional visa holder of a skilled, business innovation and investment, student, work or holiday visa identified on the Department of Home Affairs website (visa entitlements and conditions must be verified through the Visa Entitlement Verification Online Service)

Existing workers are generally not funded, unless they meet specific conditions:

Entering a traineeship with the same employer they worked for while at secondary school
Are an Indigenous person
Progressing to a higher-level qualification in the same National Training Package within 12 months of completing a previous traineeship (only one progression is funded)

NT or Australian Government employees are not funded.

Funded courses under User Choice

Qualification Code and Name

MSL30122 Certificate III in Laboratory Skills

MSL40122 Certificate IV in Laboratory Techniques

MSL50122 Diploma of Laboratory Technology

HLT37215 Certificate III in Pathology Collection

Worker Status

New Worker

Co-contribution fee

Fully subsidised by the NT Government

* New workers are full-time employees hired within the last three months OR part-time employees hired within the last 12 months.

Workwear and Gear Bonus

First-year apprentices and trainees may be eligible to receive funding for workwear and equipment:

$300 Bonus:

Be a full-time, part-time, or school-based apprentice/trainee in their first year
Have a registered NT training contract
Have not received the bonus previously, even for a different apprenticeship/traineeship
Be enrolled in a Certificate II qualification or above listed on the NT Apprenticeships and Traineeships Database

$1000 Bonus:

Meet all of the above criteria, and
Be an apprentice in a trade occupation on the NT Skilled Occupation Priority List (e.g., 311412 Earth Science Technician)

Other terms:

If your trade was on the previous priority list, you remain eligible for the $1,000 bonus for up to 30 days after the new list is published.
If you initially received the $300 bonus but later move into a priority trade occupation, you are eligible for a $700 top-up
The bonus is paid to your nominated bank account after submitting your training contract to GTNT.

State Funding

Government funding and subsidy programs are available across Australia to support skills development, and nationally recognised training.

Whether you're an individual looking to upskill or an organisation seeking to train your workforce, there may be funding opportunities available to help reduce the cost of training.

Select your state or territory below to explore available funding programs, eligibility requirements, priority qualifications and the latest funding information relevant to your region.

Not sure where to start?

Our team can help you understand available funding options and identify the most suitable training pathways for your organisation or career goals.

Select your state below to get started.

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